Mexican Sign Language
Encyclopedia
Mexican Sign Language is the language of the Deaf community in the urban regions of Mexico
. It is the language of 87,000 to 100,000 signers (1986 T. C. Smith-Stark).
, followed by Guadalajara
and Monterrey
, with a number of smaller cities containing signing communities. Some regional variation is found (80%-90% lexical similarity across the country according to Faurot et al. 2001).
Variation is high between age group and people of completely different religious backgrounds.
, with completely different verb inflections, different discourse structure and preferences for word order
, and little use of the verb to be
. However, there is extensive use of initialised signs with one study finding 37% of a 100-word list are initialised, compared to 14% for American Sign Language (Faurot et al. 2001). The same authors suggest that the Deaf community's comprehension of the Spanish language is very low.
The term "Signed Spanish” refers to signing that uses LSM signs (lexicon
) in a Spanish word order, with some representations of Spanish morphology. There is a group of suffixes that signed Spanish uses in a way similar to that of signed English, e.g. signed symbols for -dor and -ción (for nouns). Articles and pronouns are fingerspelled. Signed Spanish (or Pidgin Signed Spanish
) is often used by interpreters and during public reading or song-leading. Signed Spanish is also used by some hard of hearing and late deafened people.
(OFSL), which combined with pre-existing local sign languages and home sign
systems when deaf schools were first established in 1869. However, it is mutually unintelligible with American Sign Language, which emerged from OFSL 50 years earlier in the US.
LSM may have been influenced by Spanish Sign Language
.
(speech and lipreading) and with few schools that conducted classes in LSM.
A 5-minute signed segment of a nightly television news program was broadcast in Signed Spanish in the mid 1980s, then again in the early 1990s, discontinued in 1992, and resumed as a 2-minute summary of headlines in 1997.
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. It is the language of 87,000 to 100,000 signers (1986 T. C. Smith-Stark).
Geographic distribution and variation
Core signing populations are found in Mexico CityMexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, followed by Guadalajara
Guadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...
and Monterrey
Monterrey
Monterrey , is the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in the country of Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the...
, with a number of smaller cities containing signing communities. Some regional variation is found (80%-90% lexical similarity across the country according to Faurot et al. 2001).
Variation is high between age group and people of completely different religious backgrounds.
Relationship of LSM to Spanish
LSM is quite distinct from SpanishSpanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, with completely different verb inflections, different discourse structure and preferences for word order
Word order
In linguistics, word order typology refers to the study of the order of the syntactic constituents of a language, and how different languages can employ different orders. Correlations between orders found in different syntactic subdomains are also of interest...
, and little use of the verb to be
To Be
"To Be" is the eighth single by Ayumi Hamasaki, released on May 12, 1999.- Information :"To Be" was released less than a month after her first number one single, "Love ." Hamasaki's first song to be composed by Do as Infinity composer DAI, "To Be" was unable to reach the top position on the Oricon,...
. However, there is extensive use of initialised signs with one study finding 37% of a 100-word list are initialised, compared to 14% for American Sign Language (Faurot et al. 2001). The same authors suggest that the Deaf community's comprehension of the Spanish language is very low.
The term "Signed Spanish” refers to signing that uses LSM signs (lexicon
Lexicon
In linguistics, the lexicon of a language is its vocabulary, including its words and expressions. A lexicon is also a synonym of the word thesaurus. More formally, it is a language's inventory of lexemes. Coined in English 1603, the word "lexicon" derives from the Greek "λεξικόν" , neut...
) in a Spanish word order, with some representations of Spanish morphology. There is a group of suffixes that signed Spanish uses in a way similar to that of signed English, e.g. signed symbols for -dor and -ción (for nouns). Articles and pronouns are fingerspelled. Signed Spanish (or Pidgin Signed Spanish
Contact Sign
A contact sign language, or contact sign, is a variety or style of language that arises from contact between a deaf sign language and a spoken language...
) is often used by interpreters and during public reading or song-leading. Signed Spanish is also used by some hard of hearing and late deafened people.
Relationship to other sign languages
LSM is widely believed by the Deaf community to have derived from Old French Sign LanguageOld French Sign Language
Old French Sign Language is a term that loosely describes the language of the deaf community in 18th century Paris at the time of the establishment of the first deaf schools...
(OFSL), which combined with pre-existing local sign languages and home sign
Home sign
Home sign is the gestural communication system developed by a deaf child who lacks input from a language model in the family...
systems when deaf schools were first established in 1869. However, it is mutually unintelligible with American Sign Language, which emerged from OFSL 50 years earlier in the US.
LSM may have been influenced by Spanish Sign Language
Spanish Sign language
Spanish Sign Language is a sign language used mainly by deaf people in Spain and the people who live with them.There are small differences throughout Spain with no difficulties in intercommunication, except in Catalonia and in Valencia...
.
Status
In 2003, Mexican Sign Language was officially declared a "national language", alongside with Spanish and indigenous languages, to be used in the national education system for the deaf. Before then the major educational philosophy in the country focused on oralismOralism
Oralism is the education of deaf students through spoken language by using lip reading, speech, and mimicking the mouth shapes and breathing patterns of speech instead of using sign language within the classroom...
(speech and lipreading) and with few schools that conducted classes in LSM.
A 5-minute signed segment of a nightly television news program was broadcast in Signed Spanish in the mid 1980s, then again in the early 1990s, discontinued in 1992, and resumed as a 2-minute summary of headlines in 1997.
Alternate names
- Seña Español ("Spanish Sign" - LSM is widely known by this name among the Deaf Community in Mexico, although the language is unrelated to Spanish)
- Lenguaje de señas mexicano
- Lenguaje de las Manos
- Lenguaje Manual Mexicano